Businessman shot wife and daughter

Ruined millionaire Chris Foster "quickly and methodically" killed his wife and daughter before torching their mansion and taking his own life, a coroner has ruled.

The 50-year-old businessman shot wife Jill and teenage daughter Kirstie in the head as they slept in their beds at the £1.2 million country house in Maesbrook, Shropshire, and then set it on fire.

The two-day inquest at Shrewsbury Magistrates' Court heard that Mr Foster was in "severe financial difficulty" following the collapse of his company in October 2007 and was about to lose his lavish lifestyle.

Mr Foster, who made his fortune developing insulation technology for oil rigs, then set fires around his sprawling estate by siphoning central heating fuel from a tank using a heavy duty pipe in the early hours of August 26 last year.

As the blaze engulfed the property, Mr Foster went back inside Osbaston House and died of smoke inhalation next to his 49-year-old wife.

He told friends he would rather kill himself than let his family be "degraded" by giving up the quality of life they were used to.

As his finances unravelled, a £3 million freezing order was put on his assets and he was left in serious debt with no source of income.

Recording a verdict of unlawful killing for Mrs Foster and 15-year-old Kirstie, coroner for mid and north Shropshire, John Ellery, said: "They were shot in their respective bedrooms almost certainly whilst asleep.

"They both had everything to live for and Kirstie had her teenage and adult life ahead of her."

The coroner concluded that Mr Foster, who had the opportunity to leave the burning building, had killed himself.